The association between body-built and injury occurrence in pre-professional ballet dancers - Separated analysis for the injured body-locations.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: This study has aimed at identifying prevalence of injury-occurrence in 24 pre-professional-ballet-dancers (females, 16-18 years of age), and identifying the associations between the body-built and prevalence of injuries. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The sample of variables included body mass, body height, and 3 somatotype characteristics (mesomorph, ectomorph and endomorph) and data on injuries over the preceding year. RESULTS: Dancers were mostly ectomorphic-mesomorph (endomorphy 2.6±0.54, mesomorphy 3.99±0.77, ectomorphy 3.23±0.54). The most commonly injured locations were the foot (17% of all injuries) and ankle (17%). Majority of the injuries occurred while practising but 37% of hip-injuries occurred while performing. Ankle-injuries resulted in longest absence from ballet. Endomorphy was related to ankle-injury (odds ratio (OR) = 1.9, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.4-2.3), ectomorphy to foot injury (OR = 1.7, 95% CI 1.1-2.9), and body-mass to injury to the toes (OR = 1.7, 95% CI 1.4-3.1). CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study allow for recognizing those dancers who are particularly vulnerable to injuries of certain body location. A more profound analysis of the possible mechanisms that lead to hip-injury during performance is needed. Int J Occup Med Environ Health 2017;30(1)151-159.